News: Planetside 2 at SyndCon new information revealed

Hamma · 2011-08-15, 09:27 AM

John Smedley and Matt Higby were at Syndcon and revealed some interesting details about PlanetSide 2. There was a live demo of the game, or at least the Forge Light engine.

“We can build in extra detail where it is needed,” said Matt as he pulled the camera in and out of landscapes and models. We saw the heat shimmer of super-heated air under vehicles, reflections of light off armor and the sun light striking the canyon at sunrise. There will be spotlights at night, on towers and on vehicles as well.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...ndcon-2526.htm

Some more quotes:

There will be a dynamic weather system that can affect warfare. Intense firefights causing a lot of smoke can affect the weather and they also spoke of volumetric clouds that can mask vehicles. That may not be in at launch, but is definitely in the long term plan.

If a player has the command rank and the certifications, they can command the base to raise specific turrets such as anti-personnel or anti-aircraft. Missions are area based, the objectives popping up as you enter an area, but leaders can also pick missions for the squad / outfit as well

SoE hopes to create a parallel feel for outfits that’s like the US military, for players to recognize outfits for what they do, like how the 101st Airborne Division is known. To help with the identity, Outfits will be able to customize the look of their armor and vehicles. Leaders (with the right certifications) will be able to unlock abilities and customize the skill tree for the Outfit. Drilling down, an Outfit can have more than one Division, so they can have for example, a light assault Division, an Engineering Division and etc. Group play will be the same with 10 to a squad, but in addition, platoons of up to four squads can be formed.

Beagle · 2011-08-15, 09:46 AM

PS2 continues to sound too good to be true, and I mean that in the best way. Waiting for a chance to sell my organs for beta.

Atuday · 2011-08-15, 09:52 AM

“We will start with a single planet and continent,” said Smed, “then add more continents, and eventually planets.”

This roughly translates to earlier beta and earlier release of the game. It also translates to 1:unlimited long-term content potential, and 2:Earlier return on investment for sony.

This makes me smile.

Peacemaker · 2011-08-15, 10:02 AM

The Dev Team keeps making references to EVE-Online, arguably the best developed games out there. I really hope they take the example of EVE's devs. They punch out content every few months to a year and just keep adding to the game, for free. You keep paying, they keep working. So far we havn't seen as much communication for this yet, buuut we havn't reached beta yet so well see after that. One of the things I love about EVE is that the devs always talked to the community and made it clear that they wanted our input at every turn.

Sentrosi · 2011-08-15, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by Peacemaker

The Dev Team keeps making references to EVE-Online, arguably the best developed games out there. I really hope they take the example of EVE's devs. They punch out content every few months to a year and just keep adding to the game, for free. You keep paying, they keep working. So far we havn't seen as much communication for this yet, buuut we havn't reached beta yet so well see after that. One of the things I love about EVE is that the devs always talked to the community and made it clear that they wanted our input at every turn.

I absolutely hope this is the case. Gamers are tired of what I call the EA Sports type of gaming. By this I mean they will release a new sports game every year with no real change except prettier graphics and the requisite roster changes. You can't improve much on any sports game until you truly have, say 11v11 football where each person is a position on the field.

This is where Planetside2 can find its niche. Dynamic and enhanced content released every couple of months that improves the gameplay gradually.

I love the idea that weather patterns CAN be affected by battles. It just makes sense from a realism point of view. You can only travel so much along the same backroads before your Harasser SHOULD get stuck in rain soaked mud or be overcome by a flooded river bed.

FriendlyFire · 2011-08-15, 10:33 AM

Thanks for the link!

Alduron · 2011-08-15, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by IDukeNukeml

I want to see footage of this demo!

Me too. Does anyone know if it's online somewhere?

Baron · 2011-08-15, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Sentrosi

I love the idea that weather patterns CAN be affected by battles.

I support this, however there should not be an option to disable it. There is a clear advantage to disabling flora / weather / etc... in PS1. I hope they realize this and create PS2 accordingly.

Xaine · 2011-08-15, 10:45 AM

Two words.

Space. Battles.

Alduron · 2011-08-15, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by Xaine

Two words.

Space. Battles.

I support this.

dachlatte · 2011-08-15, 10:57 AM

there is a lack of ingame footage in this news article. hamma can you fix this please?

Graywolves · 2011-08-15, 11:08 AM

Outfit housing? That makes me curious. I wonder where that will be and how customized it will be.

Surge72 · 2011-08-15, 11:15 AM

"If a weapon can be bought in the cash store, he was quick to assure us that it would be attainable in the game as well."

This scares me ALOT. Even if you can acquire weapons through play, I really do not like the sound of ever being able to buy any weapon in a cash shop. This has instantly put me off the game.

Hamma · 2011-08-15, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by dachlatte

there is a lack of ingame footage in this news article. hamma can you fix this please?

If I could

Honestly though this is the first interview that mentions actually seeing the game engine, they didn't even have it at Fan Faire to view.

Raelity · 2011-08-15, 11:48 AM

Prowler (a mid size tank)

I know the main tanks in PS are called MBT standing for either Main Battle Tank or Medium Battle Tank, but does calling it a mid size tank here suggest there may be a heavier tank? I guess with the exception of its shape a Juggernaut is something of a Heavy Tank, it certainly has the armament. I would quite like to see a larger tank possibly with a 4 man crew, a long timer and a serious cert investment to use it, perhaps even like the vulture where you have to get a medal to unlock it.